Garbage, disease a big worry after Ghazipur landfill collapse; Can crisis birth a solution for you or not?

As the Ghazipur landfill collapse took the lives of two people, the National Green Tribunal on Monday issued show cause notices to the Delhi government, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and others.

Putting out the facts that Delhi generates more than 10,000 tonnes of garbage every day. (PTI)

As the Ghazipur landfill collapse took the lives of two people, the National Green Tribunal on Monday issued show cause notices to the Delhi government, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and others. Be that as it may, what is of real concern for the common citizen is the sight of rotting garbage on streets and the possibility of disease spreading. While the collapse triggered a crisis, will it throw up a solution for them. A bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar pulled up the AAP government and civic bodies for not discharging their statutory obligations, as per PTI. The EDMC told the green court that it had moved a plea seeking allotment of land to develop landfills to handle municipal solid waste. But will it resolve the crisis of garbage management? An editorial in The Indian Express states the municipal agency’s response does not inspire confidence.

Putting out the facts that Delhi generates more than 10,000 tonnes of garbage every day, most of which stacks up in ugly hills, posing environmental and public-safety hazards, the editorial says finding new landfills would mean merely relocating the problem. The 33-year-old dumpyard at Ghazipur should have been shutdown years ago, or at least immediately after the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, came into force. The 2016 rules stipulate that a landfill should not be more than 25 years old. However, two other landfills in Delhi, at Okhla and Narela-Bhawana, are also past their saturation point.

The problem is not only restricted to Delhi. Prakash Javadekar said that the country generates more than 60 million tonnes of garbage every year — more than double the amount generated at the beginning of the century.

Garbage management becomes a difficult proposition when recyclables, organic wastes and toxic wastes are all dumped together. It says segregating waste at source holds the key to effective waste management. The Mysuru City Corporation, has focused on segregation of trash at source, door-to-door collection, recycling and involvement of non-profits and educational institutions in public awareness campaigns. Similar initiatives can also be started in Delhi, it suggests.